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November 02, 2005

"The backwater of the world"

Separating coins by denomination preparatory to wrapping them is a character-building New England tradition.

Teresa of Technicalities would be amazed at our New England Yankee grit in wrapping our own coins for turning them in to the bank. Yesterday we turned in a bunch of street coins found on walkies during the last year or so to the tune of $152.50. Walkies started out as a health thing, but it's come to be good for the bottom line as well. We used our proceeds to treat ourselves to a fab luncheon at one of "Boston's Hidden Restaurants," the Village Restaurant in Essex: Best fried clams ever plus fries, coleslaw and two dry Beefeater martinis each, straight up with an olive. We loved Teresa's take on the whole thing when she moved east recently from her home in the Chicago area:

I believe I nearly bit off the head of some poor teller at the bank too. I had taken some coins in to the bank to get them changed. They don't have a coin counter!!! UN-FRIGGIN-BELIEVABLE! She told me I'd have to put them into coin wrappers and bring them back! (I swear I've moved to the backwater of the world!) I said -- wow -- I can't believe the stuff you guys DON'T have up here! My little local bank (3 whole branches) in the Chicago burbs, had a coin counter, and all I had to do was bring the coins in and they could count them and give me bills or deposit it. Even the local grocery stores had coin counters -- you could get your coins counted and get the money on a Starbucks card if you were so inclined. And here in the Boston burbs -- they want me to roll my coins. I'll have to start paying for stuff with change from now on.

"It's part of the discipline of being a New Englander," comments Tuck. The couple that rolls coins together stays together?

Comments

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ROFL!!! I was in SUCH a bad mood that day and it seemed everything was conspiring to make life more interesting. But that one just threw me for a loop. I never expected a bank NOT to have a coin counter - I thought it was part of the deal with being a bank! However, I did find another one with a counter - so all is well.

I guess being a New Englander takes lots of work. But your dinner sounds like it was YUMMY!

And yippee!!! My trackbacks are finally working! I'm so happy. I had to rebuild the entire site to get them back - but I love seeing your trackback there. *grin* Thanks for the linky luv.

Related as I am to many New Englanders (maternal grand pere was from Portland, and I don't mean the Left Coast Portland), I appreciate the point. Being a numismatist, I routinely scrutinize my own change (and have on occasion even blogged my change). But many a good supermarket will have a coin counter. Once you start using them you never go back, whatever the damage to your character.

I may have done most of my growing up in Chicago, but I am Bean Town born, and have many, many rellies on the East Coast. I'm drooling over that dinner. Poop! You just can't get that kind of great grub here.